“When did I tell you about the band?”
“You had a week off over Anniversary weekend and asked me to go to Fiji with you. I agreed, and you sang me one of your songs. You told me about the band and the reasons you’d kept it quiet. You told me you didn’t want secrets between us and wanted me to know because I was important to you.”
“Was I romantic?” His cocky grin made her want to laugh in response. She took another sip of her coffee instead. “We married in Fiji, didn’t we?”
Julia pictured the scene, the warmth of the sun and the sand between her bare toes. She remembered his hands tightening around hers as the marriage celebrant pronounced them man and wife. Their first kiss as a married couple and… “Yes. You remember that?”
“Bits and pieces. All I know is when I look at you I can’t sign the divorce papers and walk away. I want us to get to learn about each other again. Sweetheart, I want this marriage. Your face, it was the only thing that kept me going. Memories of you helped me keep sane and balanced through the rest of the tour.”
She accepted the plate he handed her and bit into the apricot and custard pastry while she considered his words. The pastry was crisp, the apricot sweet yet tart and the custard oozed into her mouth. She almost moaned at the first bite. Pure sinful delight.
“God, don’t do that,” he muttered, ripping his gaze off her to stare down at the coffee cupped in his hands.
“Don’t do what?”
“Watching you eat reminds me of sex. Do you know how long it’s been for me? Do you want me to have an embarrassing accident?”
Julia snorted. “Please. If you’re talking about dry spells, I’ve almost worn out my vibrator.”
“Well,” he said after a long pause in which she cursed inwardly for giving him the truth. “We could always take care of our problem together.”
“Good try. I don’t want—”
“Give me a chance to woo you again.” He spoke at the same time, causing her to break off her outright rejection. “Please, Julia. You loved me enough to marry me. You owe me this chance to put things right.”
“Maybe I don’t want to make things right,” she whispered.Liar, liar, pants on fire. If she didn’t want him then why had she rejected every request for a date she’d received in the last few months? She’d stayed at home instead of going out, unless it was with one of the Tight Five. But he’d broken her heart, broken something inside her. If she took a leap, trusted him again…
“You don’t mean that.”
His grimace and slight shake of his head made her heart twist with indecision of her own. He was right. They might have had a short courtship, but she hadn’t gone into their marriage lightly. “Could we shelve the talk of marriage and take each day as it comes instead of planning for the future?”Please let him say yes.This was the only way she’d get through the next few months with the club and her mother.
“As long as this is the final discussion we have about divorce, I’m willing to take each day as it comes. Let me help and be a part of this. Let the band rehearse at your club and let me hang out with you. You agreed last night. What’s changed?”
Julia dabbed the crumbs on her plate with her finger, unable to meet his gaze. “Everything kept going around in my mind. I didn’t sleep much.”
“I have a solution for that as well. Let me move in here with you. No,” he said when she stood. “I’ll sleep in the spare room or on the couch. I don’t care. I promise I won’t do anything to upset you. We began our marriage with the wrong mindset. We need to start from scratch and learn about each other instead of leaping into bed at the first opportunity.”
Julia picked up her pastry and took another mouthful. It tasted even better than the first bite. She swallowed and licked a bit of custard off her top lip before glancing at him again. “I don’t—God, don’t look at me like that.”
He advanced on her then, prowling around the edge of the counter to take her pastry and set it aside. “I won’t do anything more than kissing.” His warm hand smoothed down her back to come to rest on the curve of one buttock. He pinched hard enough to make her jump, chuckling at her start of surprise. “And some groping. Nothing else until you say we can take things further.”
She pushed him away and snatched up her pastry, determined to enjoy the last bite.Delicious and worth every calorie. “I—”
“Julia, say yes.” He backed her against the counter, until the hard edge dug into her back. His wiry strength held her in place, yet she wasn’t threatened.
“You’ve lost weight,” she blurted.
“My appetite disappeared after the mugging, and I haven’t been sleeping well. I have headaches.” He shuddered but didn’t add more.
Most guys would whine but he was straightforward. Smart move on his part.Yikes, bitch alert. “How bad are they?”
“They’re worse when I get overtired or stressed.”
“What did the doctors say?”
“They told me the headaches will taper off. So, do you feel sorry enough for me to invite me to stay?”
“You’re playing me.” Bother, she couldn’t keep her bitchy side contained.
